News In Brief: Samsung, Google, FTC, Altair

Egypt has extended the length of telecom licences for use in gated communities from 10 to 15 years  and raised the number of units that can be connected. In September the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) said it was offering two "triple play" licences for cable, telephone and internet services in Egypt's rapidly growing residential compounds in suburbs and satellite cities. The triple-play licences are expected to bring in US$1 billion in investments within five years.
 
Former Samsung chairman Lee Kun Hee, who was convicted of tax evasion last year, has been granted a presidential pardon to allow him to lead South Korea's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
 
Google has announced a secretive Android-related briefing for January 5, raising speculation that the company will use the event to showcase its rumored own-branded phone.
 
Consumer groups Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy have urged US trade regulator FTC to block Google's acquisition of AdMob, claiming the move could hurt consumers, advertisers and app developers alike.
 
 
Chipmakers Altair Semiconductor and Sequans Communications, both of which have traditionally focused on Wimax for their 4G aspirations, are both developing multi-mode chip architecture capable of supporting LTE.